It being cold is really not a problem as long as it's sunny. If it were rainy that would be another problem. I have a jacket and the walking naturally warms my body.
While it does get warmer during the day, it's only been getting up to the upper 60s. I'm not complaining, as this is optimal hiking weather. It barely gets hot enough to perspire! I could not have asked for better weather during my pilgrimage.
This morning I was walking with Ruggiero (pictured above) from Trento (Northern Italy). We have spoken with each other on the Camino and in albergues the last week. He doesn't speak English, so we converse in Italian.
We spent the entire morning talking about Italian food. Other than conversations with God, it was the best talk that I've had on the Camino de Santiago! We concentrated on pasta sauces, and Italian food traditions in general. It was so much fun!
As you all know, even the most basic of grocery stores in the States sell a wide variety of pastas. Each pasta recipe calls for a specific type of pasta, which best suites the sauce or soup. Some sauces are thicker, some thinner. The required pasta will work best with the requisite sauce.
Somewhere there's a pasta "bible" with all this info written down! It's important to use the correct pasta with the correct sauce!
I don't hawk products on this blog, but I highly recommend this book by Diane Seed ("The Top 100 Pasta Sauces"):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0898152321/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/175-8123665-8309002
Also, salt is added to the water that will cook the pasta to: (1) help it reach a boil faster, and (2) salt the pasta a bit. Cheese is added to (and mixed with) the cooked pasta BEFORE adding the sauce. This allows the sauce to better stick to the pasta.
With the weakened US dollar and the strong Euro (as of today, 1€ = $1.41), "real" Parneggiano Reggiano cheese is expensive. Economizing is understandable, but it's hard to match the taste of the real thing!
Anyway, Ruggiero and I both shared our favorite pasta recipes and our love of food. My top three pasta recipes are:
1) Paglio et fieno alla Ciccora;
2) Spaghetti alla Carbonara;
3) Rigatoni alla Norcina;
4) Bucatini alla Matriciana.
(I know that I said "three", but how can you ONLY have three favorite pasta recipes?!
[If I ever become very sick, somehow get me on a plane so that I can have my last meal in Italy!
Because the Camino can be so rural, there are often long stretches with no small towns and therefore no places to take a break. That's why the pilgrim always has to plan ahead.
However today, there was an unplanned bar break. In the middle of nowhere, "David" (a former pilgrim) erected a mobile bar (pictured above).
It was an unexpected pleasure. He offered all sorts of fruit juices, tea, coffee, fruit, and cookies -- all at no charge. It was a free-will offering only. But mostly he offered wonderful spirituality.
He pointed to one pilgrim's heart and said that a pilgrim "Will start living the Camino when they realize that God is present first and foremost there (the heart), rather than in some distant place far away."
So true. But that's what's so great about the Camino… it's the unexpected things that make the biggest difference. And since every day is a new adventure, just about everything is unexpected!
This last photo is not atypical of the albergues. A lot of them have mileage (kilometrage?) signs that show how many kilometers remain until one reaches Santiago. This one (at Albergue San Javier in Astorga) shows 254 km (158 miles) remaining. I hope it's correct, as my calculation has 266 km (165 miles) to go.
As for how far, no one really knows for sure. There are some optional routes and variants which muddy the picture. All I know it that it will feel great to arrive in Santiago de Compostela.
Today is Day 61 on the Camino de Santiago for me. I don't say this with distress, but rather with joy. I am thrilled that the good Lord has given me the strength to endure so much and continue on this pilgrimage path. I COULD NEVER have done this on my own. It is only with the grace of God that this has been accomplished.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
